A transverse deflecting system (TDS) is under commissioning at the Photo Injector Test Facility at DESY, Zeuthen site (PITZ). The structure was designed and manufactured by the Institute for Nuclear Research (INR RAS, Moscow, Russia) as prototype for the TDS in the injector part of the European XFEL. Last year the deflection voltage was limited for safety reasons, but after thorough investigations of the waveguide system we are now able to operate the cavity close to design specifications. The PITZ TDS streaks the electron beam vertically, allowing measurements of the longitudinal bunch profile, and, in combination with a subsequent horizontal bending magnet, also of the longitudinal phase space and slice energy spread. Furthermore, several quadrupole magnets and screen stations can be employed for slice emittance measurements using the TDS. This paper describes the progress in commissioning of the hardware, measurement techniques and simulations, and outlines the prospects of reliable slice emittance measurements at 20 MeV/c, where space charge forces complicate the determination of transfer matrices.